— Honest comparison · Updated April 2026

The best Hotjar alternative for Shopify,
ranked honestly.

Q: What is the best free Hotjar alternative?

For non-Shopify sites, Microsoft Clarity is the strongest free Hotjar alternative — unlimited sessions, unlimited heatmaps, no real catch beyond Microsoft owning the data. For Shopify stores specifically, Propel Replays is free up to 750 pageviews/month and is built on Shopify primitives, so filters map to Shopify customer fields (which Clarity can't do). Pick Clarity if Shopify-nativeness doesn't matter; pick Propel if it does.

Q: Which Hotjar alternative is best for Shopify specifically?

Propel Replays. It's the only tool in this list built specifically on Shopify primitives — filter sessions by any Shopify customer field (order count, total spent, customer tag, cart value), replays link back to actual Shopify orders, and the tracking script ships as a Shopify theme app embed with 0ms impact on Core Web Vitals. Hotjar, Clarity, Lucky Orange, MIDA, Smartlook, and Mouseflow are all multi-platform tools that will run on Shopify but don't speak Shopify natively.

Hotjar is in transition to Contentsquare, the pricing page redirects, and the Shopify integration hasn't been touched in years. Here are the six best Hotjar alternatives for Shopify merchants in 2026 — with real numbers, real trade-offs, and the cases where Hotjar (or another tool) is still the right answer.

Jump to the ranked list See the side-by-side table

6 ALTERNATIVES · COMPARED ON SHOPIFY-FIT, PRICING, AND CRAFT

— TL;DR

The short answer.

If you run a Shopify store and you're looking for a Hotjar alternative, the answer is almost always Propel Replays. It's the only tool on this list built specifically on Shopify primitives — filters that speak Shopify customer fields, replays that link back to real orders, and a tracking script that adds 0ms to your Core Web Vitals. Free up to 750 pageviews/mo, paid plans from $9.90/mo.

If you're not on Shopify, Microsoft Clarity is the strongest free Hotjar alternative for general use. Lucky Orange is the mature, multi-platform incumbent. MIDA is the closest direct peer to Propel on Shopify. Smartlook reaches end-of-sale on May 31, 2026 — it's not a viable choice anymore. Mouseflow is worth a look if friction-and-form analytics are your specific job.

Picking a Hotjar alternative is mostly a Shopify-vs-multi-platform question. The other tradeoffs follow from that.

— Why people search for this

Why merchants are looking for a Hotjar alternative in 2026.

Hotjar was the original brand in this category — the tool a lot of merchants reach for first because the name is familiar. But four things have shifted in 2025–2026 that are pushing people to look elsewhere:

The Contentsquare migration. Hotjar was acquired by Contentsquare and is being absorbed into the parent brand. The pricing page now redirects to contentsquare.com. The CRO content hub redirects. The product still exists, but everything around it feels like it's halfway to a different company — disorienting if you're trying to evaluate it cleanly.
It was never Shopify-shaped. Hotjar is a multi-platform tool. It runs on Shopify in the sense that any JavaScript runs on any page, but the filters don't know what a Shopify customer is. You can't pull up replays for VIPs, abandoned-cart shoppers, or anyone who spent over a threshold — the segments that actually matter on a store.
Pricing got expensive. Hotjar's Observe Plus starts at $39/mo monthly (~$32/mo annual) for 100 daily sessions, and once you cross into Business it scales fast. For small and mid-size Shopify merchants, the pricing curve doesn't match the value curve — we walk through what each tier actually buys a Shopify store in our Hotjar pricing guide for 2026.
Core Web Vitals impact. Hotjar's script bundles session recording, heatmaps, surveys, and a feedback widget into one payload — structurally heavier than a Shopify-native embed. We don't have a published Lighthouse benchmark on Hotjar, so we won't put a number on it; the architectural difference is real.

None of this means Hotjar is a bad tool. For non-Shopify enterprises with surveys, user interviews, and feedback widgets in one stack, the (now Contentsquare) bundle still earns its keep. But for a Shopify merchant trying to figure out why visitors don't buy, it's the wrong shape — and the alternatives have caught up.

— Ranked alternatives

The 6 best Hotjar alternatives for Shopify, ranked.

Each entry covers what it is, who it fits, pricing, where it shines, and where it falls short. Listed in order of fit-for-Shopify. We built one of these — we'll be honest about the trade-offs anyway.

Propel Replays

Best for Shopify

The Shopify-native answer to Hotjar — built by a small studio that runs Shopify stores.

Propel Replays is a Shopify-native session replay, heatmap, and survey app from Propel Commerce — a small Vancouver studio that's been shipping Shopify apps since 2019. It started as the tool Chris Norton (founder) wanted when he was running his own Shopify store, SOLID Tool Chests, and couldn't figure out why paid traffic wasn't converting. Hotjar and Lucky Orange were the alternatives at the time; both felt like aftermarket bolt-ons. Replays was built to be Shopify-shaped from day one.

What it does: records every visitor session, generates click and area heatmaps for any page, AI-summarizes each replay into two sentences when you open it (so you can skim 200 sessions in the time it took to watch ten), runs surveys triggered on specific products, collections, or time-on-page, and lets you filter every replay by any Shopify customer field — order count, total spent, customer tag, cart value, UTM, device, country. The new insight alerts proactively flag the replays worth your attention; product-page alerts catch ATC-rate drops on PDPs before they bleed conversion.

Where it wins: the Shopify-nativeness is real, not marketing. Replay filters speak every Shopify customer field. Replays link back to actual orders in Shopify admin. The tracking script ships as a Shopify theme app embed — Shopify injects it at the bottom of the page after the rest of the theme has loaded, async — with measurable 0ms impact on Core Web Vitals. Less than 30 seconds from install to first replay. AI summaries that actually understand Shopify context (the customer, the order, the cart) — that's the angle, not the feature itself.

Where it falls short: Shopify-only. If you run on WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or any other stack, this isn't your tool. We don't try to be everything; we try to be the right shape for one thing.

"In the past we used Hotjar (I think it's called something else now), but this is much better because it's in Shopify. Having qualitative data like session replays is essential, and Propel is designed in a way that's tailored to how shop owners use this kind of data."

Strudel3D · Shopify App Store review

Pricing

Free up to 750 pageviews/mo. Paid from $9.90/mo (or $6.44/mo annual). 7-day free trial.

Best for

Independent and DTC Shopify stores ($10k–$5M GMV) and Shopify Plus brands wanting Shopify-shaped CRO data.

Install free on Shopify Read the full Hotjar vs Propel comparison

Microsoft Clarity

Best free, multi-platform

Free, multi-platform, and well-engineered. The strongest Hotjar alternative if you're not on Shopify.

What it is: Microsoft's free behavioural analytics tool. Session recordings, heatmaps, dead-click and rage-click detection, integrations with Google Analytics. No paid tier — Microsoft monetizes it indirectly through Bing/Microsoft Ads insights. Genuinely good engineering; the UI is fast and the dashboards don't feel like a free product.

Where it wins: the price (free, unlimited, no catch on session count). The script is reasonably light. Heatmaps are clean. The integrations with Microsoft's ad and SEO tools are useful if you're already in that ecosystem. If you run a non-Shopify site or you need a tool across many properties, Clarity is the obvious pick.

Where it falls short for Shopify: Clarity has exactly one Shopify-related page on its entire site (clarity.microsoft.com/shopify) and effectively zero Shopify-specific content. Filters don't map to Shopify customer fields — you can't segment by cart value, order count, customer tag, or any Shopify-native attribute. Replays don't link back to orders. And the data lives on Microsoft's servers, which some merchants (and most Shopify Plus brands) won't accept on principle.

We've heard from merchants who switched off Clarity onto Propel and didn't look back: "I like it very much and it is very useful for insights better than Microsoft clarity" (Gullye, App Store review). The reason is consistent — when you actually need Shopify-shaped filters, the free tool stops being free.

Pricing

Free, unlimited.

Best for

Non-Shopify sites, multi-property setups, teams already in the Microsoft ad stack.

Lucky Orange

Mature incumbent

The wide-feature-set veteran. Mature, well-known, multi-platform — slightly dated and pricey at scale.

What it is: Lucky Orange has been around since 2010 — old by SaaS standards. It's a multi-platform analytics suite with session recordings, heatmaps, conversion funnels, surveys, announcements, form analytics, and live chat. The Shopify App Store presence is strong; it's one of the most-installed analytics tools on Shopify, and it's the most direct competitor to Propel by install base.

Where it wins: feature breadth. Lucky Orange has tools that Propel doesn't (live chat, on-site announcements, deeper form analytics) and tools that Hotjar charges enterprise prices for (funnels). If you want one suite that does many things and you're comfortable with a multi-platform UI, Lucky Orange earns its place. The free tier is real (100 sessions/mo, 30-day storage).

Where it falls short: the UI feels its age. Pricing scales aggressively — by the time you're at $89/mo on the Grow plan you're paying more than a comparable Propel tier for less Shopify-shaped data. The tracking script bundles many modules into one payload, structurally heavier than a Shopify-native embed (we don't have a published Lighthouse benchmark on it). And like Hotjar, it's not Shopify-native — filters don't speak Shopify fields, and the workflow assumes a generic web property.

Pick Lucky Orange if you specifically want live chat or on-site announcements bundled with your replays. Pick Propel if you'd rather have a tighter, Shopify-shaped tool and add live chat separately.

Pricing

Free up to 100 sessions/mo. Paid from $19/mo (Launch plan).

Best for

Stores wanting live chat and announcements bundled with replays in one tool.

MIDA

Closest peer to Propel

The other Shopify-native session replay app. Strong product, strong SEO, similar shape to Propel.

What it is: MIDA is a Shopify-shaped session replay and heatmap app — the closest direct peer to Propel in the Shopify App Store. They've out-shipped most of the category on SEO content (their alternatives and comparison pages are the reason you've probably already seen MIDA's name on a few Hotjar-alternative listicles).

Where it wins: like Propel, MIDA is built on Shopify primitives — filters generally map to Shopify fields, replays integrate with Shopify admin, the script is lighter than the multi-platform tools. Pricing is competitive. If you specifically want a Shopify-only replay app and Propel isn't a fit, MIDA is the next call.

Where it falls short vs Propel: we'd be lying if we said the differentiator was on a feature spec sheet — both apps cover the core job. Where Propel wins, in our (admittedly biased) view: AI session summaries that work as a daily-skim workflow rather than a checkbox feature, tighter craft on the dashboard and empty states, and a measurably 0ms-on-Lighthouse tracking script that not every competitor matches. Honest test: install both on the free plan for a week and compare the workflow.

Pricing

Free tier on the Shopify App Store. Paid plans roughly comparable to Propel.

Best for

Shopify merchants who want a Shopify-native replay app and have already tried (or want to compare against) Propel.

Heads-up — Smartlook reaches end-of-sale on May 31, 2026. New signups will be turned off and existing customers are migrating now.

Smartlook

EOL May 31, 2026

Solid product, multi-platform, mobile-app strong — but reaching end-of-sale in May 2026.

What it is (or was): Smartlook is a multi-platform session-replay and analytics tool with strong mobile-app instrumentation. Cisco-owned. Used to be a fair Hotjar alternative, particularly for teams shipping native iOS/Android apps alongside a website.

Why it's no longer a real option: Smartlook announced it's reaching end-of-sale on May 31, 2026. Cisco is winding down the product. New signups will be cut off; existing customers are getting migration notices. Picking Smartlook today means picking a tool that's actively shutting down — not a viable choice for a Shopify store evaluating a Hotjar alternative in 2026.

If you're already on Smartlook and migrating off, Propel Replays is the closest Shopify-shaped landing spot. We wrote a Smartlook migration guide here.

Pricing

Closing May 31, 2026.

Best for

Nobody, in 2026 — migrate off.

Mouseflow

Friction-detection lead

Multi-platform tool that's leaned hard into friction events, form analytics, and a "by-audience" landing-page strategy.

What it is: Mouseflow is a Danish multi-platform behaviour-analytics tool. Session replays, heatmaps, funnels, form analytics, friction-event detection. Their marketing site is structured around audiences (marketing, product, UX, support) and their friction-events feature is the loudest part of the pitch — it surfaces rage clicks, dead clicks, error clicks, and form drop-off as discrete events.

Where it wins: form analytics is genuinely deeper than what Propel, MIDA, or Lucky Orange offer — if your conversion problem is a complex multi-step form (B2B lead capture, complex product configurators, healthcare intake), Mouseflow is worth a look. Friction events are well-categorized.

Where it falls short for Shopify: not Shopify-native. No Shopify-shaped filtering. No Shopify customer field integration. Pricing scales like Hotjar and Lucky Orange — Essential is $25/mo, Advanced is $109/mo, Premium is $319/mo. For a Shopify store whose conversion problem is "PDP isn't converting" or "mobile checkout is leaking," Mouseflow's form-heavy positioning is the wrong shape.

Pricing

Free up to 500 sessions/mo. Paid from $25/mo (Essential).

Best for

Sites where complex forms or funnels are the primary conversion surface.

— At a glance

Hotjar alternatives, side-by-side.

The same six tools, scored on the things that actually matter for Shopify merchants.

Tool	Shopify-native?	Free tier?	Starts at	AI summaries?	0ms CWV?	App Store rating
Propel Replays	Yes	750 pageviews/mo	$9.90/mo	Yes	Yes (measured)	4.9★ (500+ reviews)
Hotjar (now Contentsquare)	No	35 daily sessions	$39/mo monthly (Plus)	No	No	No App Store listing
Microsoft Clarity	No	Unlimited (free only)	Free	Yes (generic web)	No	N/A
Lucky Orange	No	100 sessions/mo	$19/mo (Launch)	No	No	4.6★
MIDA	Yes	250 sessions/mo	$9.99/mo (Basic)	Yes	Not published	4.9★
Smartlook	No	EOL May 31, 2026	EOL	No	No	N/A
Mouseflow	No	500 sessions/mo	$25/mo (Essential)	No	No	N/A

Pricing reflects the lowest non-free paid plan as listed by each vendor in April 2026. Hotjar pricing now redirects to contentsquare.com. App Store ratings are Shopify App Store; Hotjar, Clarity, Smartlook, and Mouseflow have no native Shopify App Store listing. "0ms CWV" reflects Propel's measured Lighthouse delta; competitors don't publish a CWV claim.

— Migration guide

Switching from Hotjar to a Shopify-shaped tool.

The most common worry merchants have when switching is "what about the data I've already collected?" Honest answer: you can't migrate it. Session replays are stored as compressed DOM events in a vendor-specific format, and they don't translate between tools — this is true regardless of which way you're switching, and it's true industry-wide. Heatmaps are derived from those events, so they don't migrate either. Anyone telling you they can import historical replays from Hotjar is either confused or selling you something.

The good news is that fresh data accumulates fast. A Shopify store doing a few hundred sessions a day will have readable click and area heatmaps within 24–48 hours of installing a new tool, and a meaningful library of replays inside a week. So the "lost data" cost of switching is less than it feels like — you're trading a few weeks of historical context for a tool that fits the way you actually work.

The mechanics of switching from Hotjar to Propel Replays look like this: install Propel from the Shopify App Store, enable the theme app embed, and recordings start streaming in within minutes. You don't need to remove the Hotjar script first — running both for a week or two is fine and lets you compare the dashboards directly. When you're ready, remove the Hotjar tag from your theme (or via GTM if that's how you installed it) and cancel the Hotjar subscription before the next billing cycle.

Two practical tips. First, keep your Hotjar account in read-only mode for 30 days after switching — sometimes you'll want to refer back to a specific replay or heatmap from a campaign that ran while Hotjar was your tool. Hotjar lets you stay logged in with no active tracking. Second, audit your tracking after switching: pull up Lighthouse on a few key pages before and after, and confirm the new tool is actually behaving the way you'd expect on Core Web Vitals. With Propel the answer is 0ms; if you switch to a different multi-platform tool, the answer probably isn't.

— FAQ

Hotjar alternative FAQ

Why is Hotjar's pricing page redirecting to Contentsquare?

Hotjar was acquired by Contentsquare and is in the middle of a slow brand migration. As of 2026, the Hotjar pricing CTA, several marquee feature pages, and most of the CRO content hub now 301-redirect to contentsquare.com. Hotjar still exists as a brand, but it's being absorbed into Contentsquare's enterprise stack — which is why the pricing experience feels disjointed. If you're searching for Hotjar pricing today, you're effectively shopping Contentsquare.

What is the best free Hotjar alternative?

For non-Shopify sites, Microsoft Clarity is the strongest free Hotjar alternative — unlimited sessions, unlimited heatmaps, no real catch beyond Microsoft owning the data. For Shopify stores specifically, Propel Replays is free up to 750 pageviews/month and is built on Shopify primitives, so filters map to Shopify customer fields (which Clarity can't do). Pick Clarity if Shopify-nativeness doesn't matter; pick Propel if it does.

Is Microsoft Clarity better than Hotjar?

It depends on what you're optimizing for. Clarity is free, fast, and well-engineered — for general web analytics it's hard to argue against the price. Hotjar (now Contentsquare) is more polished, has stronger surveys and user-interview tooling, and has more enterprise-shaped data controls. For most small and mid-size sites, Clarity is the better starting point in 2026. For Shopify stores, neither is Shopify-native and Propel Replays beats both on filter shape and Core Web Vitals impact.

Can I import my Hotjar data into another tool?

Honest answer: no. Session replays are stored as compressed DOM events that don't translate between vendors — this is an industry-wide limitation, not a Propel one. Heatmaps are built from those events, so they don't migrate either. The good news is that fresh data accumulates fast: a Shopify store doing a few hundred sessions a day will have a useful click and area heatmap within 24–48 hours and weeks of replay history within a month.

Which Hotjar alternative is best for Shopify specifically?

Propel Replays. It's the only tool in this list built specifically on Shopify primitives — filter sessions by any Shopify customer field (order count, total spent, customer tag, cart value), replays link back to actual Shopify orders, and the tracking script ships as a Shopify theme app embed with 0ms impact on Core Web Vitals. Hotjar, Clarity, Lucky Orange, MIDA, Smartlook, and Mouseflow are all multi-platform tools that will run on Shopify but don't speak Shopify natively.

How does Propel Replays compare to Hotjar on price?

Propel is dramatically cheaper at every tier. Free up to 750 pageviews/mo (vs. Hotjar's 35 daily sessions on the free plan, ~1,000/mo). Paid plans start at $9.90/mo ($6.44/mo billed annually with 35% off) for 20,000 pageviews. Hotjar's Observe Plus starts at $39/mo monthly (or ~$32/mo on annual) for 100 daily sessions, and pricing now redirects to Contentsquare. For a typical small-to-mid Shopify store, Propel costs roughly a third of Hotjar's equivalent tier.

Does Hotjar slow down my Shopify store?

Hotjar's tracking script bundles session recording, heatmaps, surveys, and a feedback widget into one payload — that's structurally heavier than a Shopify-native session-replay tool by design. We don't have a published Lighthouse benchmark on Hotjar, so we won't put a number on it. Propel Replays measures 0ms impact on Core Web Vitals — the tracking script ships as a Shopify theme app embed (loaded async at the bottom of the page) and won't move your Lighthouse score.

I'm not on Shopify — should I still use Propel?

No. Propel Replays only works on Shopify storefronts; that's the entire shape of the product. If you're on WooCommerce, BigCommerce, a static site, or a custom stack, Microsoft Clarity is the best free option and Hotjar (now Contentsquare) or Lucky Orange make sense if you need surveys, user interviews, or enterprise-grade controls.

The Hotjar alternative built specifically for Shopify.

Install Propel Replays in under 30 seconds. Free up to 750 pageviews/mo. 7-day free trial on every paid plan. 7,000+ Shopify stores already replaced Hotjar with us.

Install free on Shopify

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